Bleach: Age of War arc
by DaBlackVegeta
Summary: A new threat is upon the Soul Society, someone has taken over Las Noches and plans to take over the Seireitei and the World of the Living, Aizen has escaped from prison, and the Visoreds have declared war against the Gotei 13. Post chapter 423 of manga
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach at all whatsoever!**

**Chapter 1: 100 years of peace **

_Peace is not something you wish for; it's something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away..._

_Robert Fulghmn_

A soft breeze blew throughout the Soul Society, white fluffy clouds hang in the air along with the beautiful blue sky. A man with unusual orange hair sat on the rooftop of a house with a cup of fresh tea in his hand as he observed his natural surroundings.

"Nice day," Ichigo Kurosaki said in his rough, yet kind, voice as he took a sip.

"KUROSAKI-KUN!" a voice yelled making the man toss his tea in the air and having the hot liquid rain back down on him.

"Augh! Inoue!" Ichigo growled turning around to face a beautiful woman behind him.

She appeared to be in her mid twenties and had long waist length burnt orange hair and big brown eyes, she wore a black shihakusho with a white sash around her waist. Though the shihakusho itself was loose on the woman her bust still protruded making it near impossible not to take glances at it. "Kurosaki-kun," Orihime Inoue said. "I came by to tell you that Chad said he's going to Karakura Town again to patrol."

"Huh? I thought that was my job." Ichigo said.

"It was," Orihime giggled. "But since you became a captain, Chad's been assigned to it."

"Oh," Ichigo nodded remembering he actually was a captain now, not a substitute soul reaper anymore. "Right, tell him go ahead."

"Alright, oh and Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said. "Why do you have tea all over you haori?"

"Tea?" Ichigo looked at it gasping. "Damn it! Not again, Gramps is gonna blow up when he sees I've messed it up again!"

Orihime just giggled saying "Kurosaki-kun even at 125 years old you're still funny." before heading back down.

"Shit," Ichigo growled removing the white haori from his shoulders and revealing the enormous knife shaped blade he wore on his back. "Such a pain in the ass keeping this clean." He then sighed and looked back toward the blue sky. "125 eh?" he said to himself. "That means it's only been 100 years since I came to live here permanently."

"Hey! Ichigo!" a voice called from down below.

Ichigo looked down below the house seeing a man with fiery red hair in a ponytail and tattoos on his forehead. "Renji? What do you want? Shouldn't you been at squad 6's barracks?"

"Captain Kuchiki told me he could handle it," Renji Abarai said.

"Hmph, leaving a sick person to do your job for you?" Ichigo asked. "Kind of cruel when you think about it."

"Hey! Captain Kuchiki said he'd handle it, what was I supposed to do?" Renji asked. "But more importantly, where the hell is your haori? Don't tell me you screwed it up again."

"Shut up!"

"I knew it, you ripped it didn't you?" Renji asked. "Too bad, I'm not covering for you again. Head Captain Yamamoto's gonna be so pissed."

"I didn't rip it," Ichigo said showing it to him. "Inoue made me spill tea all over it when she startled me."

"Startled?" Renji blinked before bursting out laughing. "Ichigo you got startled by your 3rd seat?"

A vein appeared on Ichigo's forehead as he glared intensely at the howling Renji. "Renji, I'm gonna kill you."

"What are you two idiots doing now?" an exasperated voice groaned.

Both Ichigo and Renji looked to the air and saw a small framed black haired female standing in the air above them. "Rukia?" Ichigo said as Rukia landed down next to Renji.

"Rukia? That you?" Renji asked. "Hard to tell since your hair's gotten a little longer. Wait, nevermind now I know it's you. You're still flat ches-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rukia growled slamming her foot into Renji's face.

"Yeah it's Rukia alright," Ichigo said with a small smile.

Rukia had been away on a mission for the last 15 years with some members of the 13th squad on a retrieval mission. "What are your staring at?" Rukia, who had was all the sudden right in Ichigo's face, asked flicking him in the nose.

"Ow," Ichigo said monotonously. "Rukia don't go flicking your superiors in the nose."

"Hmph, I notcied." Rukia gave him a warm smile. "Sorry I wasn't here to personally congratulate you on your promotion to captain. But it appears you might not hold that position for too long." She held up his haori in front of him and grinned slyly. "Now how did you manage to spill this much tea on your honorable wear? You know how the much the Head Captain abhors screwing up our uniform, especially you captains."

"Shaddup," Ichigo said snatching the haori. "I'll clean it up when I find the time."

"Well you might want to hurry," Rukia giggled. "I hear there's a meeting today. And isn't there supposed to be a funeral as well?"

Ichigo's face suddenly fell at the mention of that. "I see," he said softly. "So you heard already?"

"I was sent a black butterfly a few days back," Rukia said with a sad smile. "It's amazing he actually lived 100 more years before succumbing to the illness." Rukia then mentally slapped herself for bringing the mood down. "A-Anyway I have a favor to ask of you," Rukia said.

"A favor?" Ichigo arched an eyebrow.

Rukia nodded. "I was recommended by Nii-sama to take over Captain Ukitake's job."

"You?" Renji yelled from below. "B-But wait! Why wasn't I recommended?"

"It's simple," Ichigo said. "You're just not captain type."

"I was the captain type way before you!" Renji growled. "And before Izuru and Shuhei."

"Oh yeah I forgot about those two," Ichigo said before grinning and patting Renji on the back. "Well, better luck next time."

"There shouldn't even be a next time, I've had a bankai much longer than all three of you. And now Rukia's beaten me to it as well!"

"Bankai?" Ichigo turned to Rukia. "That's right, I thought you had to have a bankai in order to be a captain."

"Being a captain means more than just having a bankai, you must meet other requirements as well, such as leadership and critical thinking in adverse situations." She turned her back to them and walked toward the edge of the house ready to leave. "Anyway I assume I can count on you for a second recommendation?"

"Of course," Ichigo said.

"Thank you," Rukia said turning to them. "And to answer your question, yes I do have a bankai." she said with a sly smile before she left the both of them.

Renji and Ichigo sat there in confusion for a few seconds before the both of them yelled "WHAT?"

* * *

><p>"Kurosaki Ichigo!" Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 Genryusai Shigenkuni Yamamoto yelled. "This is your third offense regarding the damaging of your haori! What explanation do you have for yourself this time?"<p>

Ichigo looked around at all the eyes of the 11 captains before him. "Uhh," he said. "Well you see..."

"Enough!" Yamamoto yelled. "I will deal with your punishment later, right now we have more concerning matters at hand."

"You didn't even give me a chance to explain," Ichigo mumbled assuming his place in the meeting.

"As you all know," Yamamoto began. "6 days ago, we tragically lost a great member to the Soul Society. The illness finally claimed Jushiro Ukitake, as tragic as this is we also must acknowledge the vacant captains seat he left behind. I have received a recommendation Byakuya Kuchiki of Squad 6 for Rukia Kuchiki, the lieutenant of Squad 13. Does anyone else want to vouch for her so that we may proceed to the Captains Examination."

"Right here Old Man," Ichigo said slightly raising his hand.

"Hmm, you can't even keep your uniform together yet you think you can decide who's captain material or not?" Yamamoto asked. "Very well, we shall examine Rukia Kuchiki for the position of 13th squad captain."

As the meeting ended Ichigo quickly strolled over to the Captain of Squad 8 Shunsui Kyoraku. "Kurosaki," Shunsui greeted. "How are you?"

"Good, but I should be asking you that." Ichigo said. Shunsui gave him a sad smile removing his hat.

"I see," he said. "Well I would tell you I'm okay, but I'd be lying my ass off." He looked at his hat for a while before placing it back on his head and turning.

"Wait, aren't you going to the burial?" Ichigo asked.

"I did all my mourning for 6 days," Shunsui said waving it off. "I think it'd be disrespectful to go mourn some more today. Oh yeah, I wouldn't go bothering Old manYama or Unohana-senpai today either. Unless you don't want to live another 125 years. See ya around." And with that Shunsui walked off waving and leaving Ichigo in a state of confusion.

"Kurosaki Ichigo!" Yamamoto's voice startled Ichigo.

"G-Gramps!" Ichigo said.

Yamamoto looked at Ichigo with both his eyes opened signaling the seriousness of what he wanted to say. "We must discuss a very serious situation," Yamamoto said. "Come, I will explain on the way." Ichigo only nodded as he followed his superior close behind. The two walked in silence until they reached the Captain Commander's quarters, once Yamamoto took his seat he gave Ichigo the same look resting his bearded chin on the top of his hands.

"What's up Gramps?" Ichigo asked.

"Kurosaki," Yamamoto began. "What I have to tell you concerns the World of the Living as well as the Soul Society, a threat capable of destroying both those worlds."

"H-Huh?" Ichigo asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You of course recall the group of shinigami cast offs called the Visoreds?"

"How could I forget?" Ichigo asked. "They were the whole reason I got strong enough to go to Las Noches and save Inoue."

"Yes, for some time I regarded them as fugitives that were destined to face punishment of the law once we caught them," Yamamoto told him. "But after the events of the Arrancar war I saw them as our allies and made peace with them. Now I see my mistake in not burning them to ashes."

"Gramps! What's this about?" Ichigo demanded. "The Visoreds _are _allies. They helped me-"

"Do not interrupt me boy," Yamamoto said raising a hand in front of him. "Know your place when you speak to me."

Ichigo wanted to protest but bowed his head to allow Yamamoto to continue. "As I said they _were _allies for a time, but it appears that time is over," Yamamoto told him. "The de facto leader of the Visoreds, Shinji Hirako, has just declared war against the Gotei 13."

Ichigo eyes shot open in shock from that statement, confusion began to hit him as he slammed his hand on the wooden desk. "What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo growled. "Hirako would never go to war with us! He's our friend!"

"So you believe," Yamamoto told him. "But the information I have relayed to you came from Hirako himself."

"That's a lie!"

"You dare accuse me of lying?"

Ichigo couldn't respond to that, so he just punched the desk making a dent in it. "Then why are you telling this to me?" he demanded. "Why didn't you bring this up in the meeting we just had."

Yamamoto was silent for a bit before opening his right eye and saying "We have no need to bring this up among the Seireitei causing any commotion, we just had a death among our ranks not to mention it would disrupt the 100 years of peace we have worked so hard to achieve."

"That still doesn't explain why-"

Yamamoto held his hand up to silence him. "My reason for telling you this, is the hope that you, Kurosaki Ichigo, can go to the Visoreds and diffuse such insolent talks of war _before _we begin any mobilization."

"Me?" Ichigo asked. "But how do we know Shinji will even talk to me?"

"Simple," a voice behind Ichigo said. "You are the only one the Visoreds find trustworthy."

"Rukia? You know about this too?" Ichigo asked.

"It's part of the reason I came back," Rukia said. "As much as I'd rather wait until I'm promoted, it seems I'll be accompanying you on this peace mission."

"As will the 3rd seat of the 5th Squad Orihime Inoue." Yamamoto added. "I trust the three of you will be able to talk some sense into those rowdy brats."

Ichigo turned to Yamamoto with a determind expression on his face. "Gramps, I'm not gonna go to war with the Visoreds." he told him.

"Then you'd better succeed in this mission," Yamamoto simply told him as both his eyes opened. "Unless you plan to join them in their conquest?"

Ichigo just glared at him before Rukia kicked him in the back of his head. "Of course not sir," Rukia told him. "Captain Kurosaki _will _succeed, I promise you."

"Rukia..." Rukia grabbed him by his hair and quickly began dragging him out of the room. "Well we must be on our way," Rukia said bowing.

* * *

><p>"Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock." a man bounded in black bandages said as his finger tapped table in front of him. "How many years have I been imprisoned?" He sat silently for a bit before saying "Ah, only 125 years? I assumed I'd be in here much longer, but it appears that central 46 is as incompetent as ever, it only took 125 years out of my 20,000 sentence to break out." He kept tapping the table with his index finger grinning widely. "Come and free me already, so I can achieve my destiny that was snatched from me by that accursed substitute soul reaper." Suddenly he listened to the doors open and grinned once more.<p>

"It's about time," he said. "I was beginning to think you backed out of our deal."

"Now now Sosuke, there's no need to be anxious." the person said standing next to him. "Although I gotta say I never expected the great Aizen to be bounded so easily."

"A minor setback," Aizen grinned. "Once I'm free to roam once more, the Soul Society will be at my feet again."

"Whatever you say," the man told him as he pulled a zanpaktou from it's sheath.

"What I want to know is why the sudden change of heart?" Aizen asked. "Weren't you one of Kurosaki's closets friends? How very cruel of you to betray him."

"That is no longer my concern," the man said. "While I felt guilty about it before, I've gotten over it pretty quickly."

"Hmph, you're almost as cold as me," Aizen grinned. "What will Kurosaki say when he sees this?"

"Nothing," the man said cutting the binds from Aizen. "Because once he finds out, he'll be dead before he even recognizes me."

**A/N: First Bleach story, I wanted to try my hand at it. All constructive criticism is welcomed but please no flaming. I know I didn't do **_**that **_**bad. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two: Old allies new enemies **

_One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death . It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal though...betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope_

_Steven Deitz_

A hole began to open in a desert during a dark night, stepping from it were two mysterious human-like creatures that wore shiakusho like the Shinigami only stead of being black they were gray, they also wore a black black sash that contrast with the white sash the Shinigami wore.

"You idiot," the shorter of the two growled. He had dark green hair that reached his neck and blue eyes, the scar on his face stretched over his nose seemingly growing larger as the man grinned his toothy grin. "You sent us too far east, now we have to walk."

"The Garganta seems to be malfunctioning somehow," the taller one said. He had short spikey blue hair and pale skin, he wore dark sunglasses along with a lit cigarette in his mouth and carried a large concealed blade on his back. "Ah well, doesn't matter really. We still have a few hours Kurei."

"Right," Kurei grinned. "Then we get to have some fun, isn't that right Shukahiko?" Kurei tapped on the base of his sword that sat in his sash.

"Battles always seem to excite you," Shukahiko said sitting down. "This one, however, seems rather unnecessary." He took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew a large puff of smoke before sighing.

"Oh well, time to get to work."

* * *

><p>Somewhere in a city the Senkaimon opened for Captain Ichigo Kurosaki, 3rd seat Orihime Inoue, and Captain nominee Rukia Kuchiki. "The world of the living," Rukia said. "It's been well over 50 years since I've been here."<p>

"Karakura Town hasn't changed all that much in 100 years," Ichigo said. Sure they had better technology and cars were hovering right now but besides that, everything pretty much looked the same.

"Now to find the Visoreds," Rukia said. "Where should we look to first?"

"Not sure, I can feel reiatsu coming in that direction, but I can also feel it over there too," Ichigo said before his eyes widened. "W-What the hell?"

"The reiatsu coming from that direction..." Orihime said.

"It's strong," Rukia added.

"That can't be Hirako," Ichigo said. "Or none of the Visoreds."

"I think we may have to delay our peace mission," Rukia said. "Because they're coming to this destination."

Ichigo clutched the giant zanpaktou on his back glaring at the power that was headed for him. "There it is," Ichigo said looking off into the distance as someone ran toward them. It was a very well endowed woman wearing a white jacket that hugged her body and white pants. She had a cracked mask sitting ontop of her head and long wavy blue hair that reached her lower back, she also had a distinct crimson line that ran across her face. "Wait a minute..."

"ICHIGO!" the person yelled leaping into the air.

"N-N-N..." Ichigo said. "NEL?"

Nelilel Tu Oderschvank tackled Ichigo to the ground in a bear hug squeezing the life from him. "Ichigo it's been so long," she said rubbing her cheek against his. "Why haven't you visited me, you said you'd visit every month!"

"It's good to see you too Nel," Ichigo chuckled. "Sorry but I've been busy lately."

"That's not a good enough excuse," Nel pouted pulling Ichigo into a tighter hug. "Ichigo said he'd visit me every month but I haven't seen you in a year!" She then buried Ichigo's face into her large breasts still keeping her iron grip on him.

"Uhm...Nel?" Rukia looked at the Arrancar. "Maybe you should let Ichigo breath for a second."

Nel stopped hugging Ichigo and gave Rukia an annoyed look. "You're here too?" she said looking at Orihime. "And so are you?"

"Hello Nel," Orihime said happily.

Nel eyed the two women suspiciously before pulling Ichigo into another tight grip. "Why is Ichigo three timing Nel?" she whined.

"You're referring to yourself in the 3rd person in your adult form?"

"Nel waits on Ichigo hand and foot for any of his inner desires and yet Nel always ends up being treated like dirt by a three timer!"

"How can I be three timing when I'm not in a relationship?" Ichigo said. "And what inner desires are you referring to?"

Suddenly Nel got a bright gleam in her eyes as she grinned mischievously. "That's okay though, 'cause remember Nel is a masochist so if you make Nel cry a bit it's okay, you can even hit Nel if you like."

"I thought we went over the whole masochist thing!" Ichigo said.

"Hmph, Nel what the hell are you doing? You're making yourself look like an idiot," another voice said prompting everyone to look up.

Above them stood a man with spikey blue hair wearing a white jacket similar to Nel's only instead of pants he wore a white hakama. His jacket sleeves were rolled up past his elbow and he wore the jacket open showing the scar he sports on his chest. He also had a large gaping hole on his abdomen. He too wore a mask only his was on his right jaw.

"Grimmjow? What the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo asked.

"I could ask the same to you, what business do you have in the world of the living _Captain_?" Grimmjow Jeagerjaques grinned.

"Grimy don't be mean to Ichigo," Nel said. "We're here for his help remember?"

"Tch, _you're _here for your lover's help. I could care less really," Grimmjow said making Nel blush at that lover comment. "And I thought I told you not to call me Grimy."

"Wait, help? What could you possibly need my help for?" Ichigo asked ignoring the lover comment. Suddenly he felt the huge wave of reiatsu again. "Wait, Harribel's here too?"

"No, this is the same reiatsu we felt eariler," Rukia said. "So it wasn't the two of you that we felt?"

"No," Grimmjow growled. "Damn, I guess they followed us here. I knew there was no point in running."

"There's only two of them now," Nel said. "I'm sure we can handle that much."

"Two of who?" Ichigo demanded.

"No time to explain Ichigo," Nel said. "Right now we have trouble on our hands." Ichigo wanted to press further but stopped when two people appeared in front of them.

"Here they are Shukahiko," Kurei said. "Just as I thought, they're hiding behind the Shinigami."

"Hiding?" Grimmjow growled grabbing his zanpaktou.

"Don't get be angry at us," Shukahiko said removing his cigarette and blowing out smoke. "You should have known you could not escape, those two buffoons that tried to buy you some time didn't even slow us down a second."

Nel's eyes widened. "P-Pesche?" she said. "Dondochakka? You-"

"It was like fighting children," Kurei grinned. "Disabled children."

"You bastards!" Nel growled pulling her zanpaktou from its sheath and dashing toward them.

"Nel stop!" Ichigo yelled but Nel was already swinging her sword at Kurei, right before it connected though Kurei easily blocked it with his own zanpaktou.

"Careful little lady," Kurei grinned. "You never know just what-"

"Getsuga..." Ichigo growled. "Tensho!" A blue energy wave shot at Kurei as Nel leaped out of the way, Kurei grinned holding his zanpaktou in front of the blast literally cutting it in two.

"Hahahaha," Kurei cackled. "What was that? Was it supposed to harm me? What a joke!"

"Damn it," Ichigo growled.

"Stand back and let a real fighter handle this!" Grimmjow growled dashing toward Kurei, but he was unexpectedly blocked by Shukahiko who clashed his own zanpaktou with Grimmjow's.

"So you wanna fight me?" Grimmjow grinned. "Fine then, let's do this."

"I don't have much time," Shukahiko said. "So I'll make this as painless as possible."

"Move it bitch!" Kurei kicked Nel out of his way sending her through a tree. "I'll deal with you later."

"Nel!" Ichigo cried. "Bastard!" Kurei dashed toward Ichigo slamming his blade onto his. "Who the hell are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kurei grinned kneeing Ichigo in the stomach.

"Orihime, help out Nel," Rukia said as Orihime hurried to the Arrancar on the ground.

"Nel," she said helping her up. "Who are those men?"

"I don't know," Nel admitted. "One moment, Pesche, Dondochakka and I were playing a game and suddenly these weird people showed up. Twelve of them, they attacked us without hesitation. Grimey , Harribel and I tried to fight them off and defend our home, but they overpowered us with ease."

"So you and Grimmjow escaped? What about Ms. Harribel?" Orihime asked.

"I'm not sure," Nel said sadly. "She and her fraccion fought hard ordering us to get through the Garganta, she said she'd be right behind us but..."

Rukia quickly unsheathed her blade twirling it clockwise. "Dance...Sode No Shiraiyuki." Rukia's zanpaktou transformed into a completely white katana with a long ribbon forming from the pommel. "Move Ichigo!" Rukia commanded as she began puncturing the ground. "Tsugi no mai..." Ichigo held Kurei in place then jumped out of the way the moment Rukia yelled "Hakuren!"

A massive pure white wave of ice shot toward Kurei, knowing he had no chance at dodging Kurei held his zanpaktou horizontally. "Okibi!" he growled as his zanpaktou suddenly caught fire surrounding Kurei in a fire sheild.

"N-No way," Rukia said as her ice blast was melted into liquid.

"Keh," Kurei grinned. "Not to shabby I should say."

"Damn it what the hell are you?" Rukia growled as Grimmjow was suddenly sent flying into the ground.

"S-Shit," Grimmjow growled. "How the hell are these bastards so powerful?"

Shukahiko and Kurei stood next to one another pointing their weapons at them. "Since you haven't died in the 5 minutes we've fought I think you're worthy of us telling you who we are," Kurei grinned. "I am Kurei Nondomino."

"Shukahiko Yonko," Shukahiko said. "And to answer your question from earlier, let's just say we're apart of the New World Order."

"You have zanpaktou," Rukia said. "Yet you wear neither the uniform of a shinigami or an arrancar, what exactly are you?"

Kurei grinned mischievously while Shukahiko blew out another puff of smoke. "We're a little in between," he said.

"Visoreds?" Ichigo asked.

"Not quite," Kurei grinned. "Yes we have hollow and shinigami powers, but our hollow abilities extend farther than just masks. I guess you could say, we're like you Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo looked confused. "Like me?" he asked.

"Yes," Shukahiko said. "I'm sure you've expierenced this on more than one occasion, besides gaining a mask and a spike in your reiatsu, have you ever undergone any kind of full hollowfication?"

Ichigo began racking his brain for his memories, then something hit him. Whenever he got angry he transformed into a full hollow, his mask would even changed shape and form. "The uncontrollable state," Rukia answered for Ichigo. "You're telling us that you two can do the same?"

"Ha! We're not so weak to let ourselves be controlled by our transformations." Kurei grinned. "Unlike Orange here, we can willingly become our full hollow forms. Shukahiko, shall we demonstrate?"

"Another time," Shukahiko said. "It seems we have another guest."

His eyes darted toward behind Ichigo and the others, on top of a roof stood a man wearing a black leather jacket and pants. The jacket was open revealing his bare chest which bore battle scars over various parts of his body, his blonde hair reached down a bit below his neck as the top of his head was covered by a black hat.

"Ichigo," the man grinned showing his overbite. "Seems like ya got yourself in a pinch."

"Shinji?" Ichigo asked as the man named Shinji leaped off the rooftop and landing right next to the others.

"Long time no see," Shinji said. "We'll catch up later, right now..."

He slowly pulled his zanpaktou halfway from it's sheath. "I believe we have some other business to attend to." Kurei grinned about to attack when Shukahiko held his arm at bay.

"Think Kurei, it's 7 against 2," he said. "I'd rather not transform so early just to deal with underlings, we'll wait to fight another day."

"Hmph, fine," Kurei said putting his zanpaktou up. "Later losers."

A garganta opened behind the two as they both backed into it. "Kurosaki Ichigo, we'll meet again." Shukahiko said. "And don't worry my little 'Espada' we'll take good care of your home."

Grimmjow glared at them as the garganta closed up. "Damn it!" he growled punching the ground. "Just who the hell do those bastards think they are?"

"Ichigo, can't you handle anything without me jumping in and saving your ass?" Shinji said. "Any my my Orihime you're looking well these days."

"Hirako," Ichigo gave him a stern look to which Shinji responded with a rather nonchalant one.

"Ugh! Why are you so serious?" he groaned digging into his ear with his pinky. "We don't see each other for a long time and the first thing you do is scowl at me, though I can't say I'm surprised. What I am surprised about is..." He looked at Ichigo with his overbite grin. "That white haori you're sporting, so you decided to becoming a Captain?"

"We're not here to talk about me, we're here to-"

"Ichigo," Rukia stopped him. "We'll worry about that later, right now we have more pressing matters."

"Those two men," Orihime said. "They said like were like you Kurosaki-kun, they could transform into..." She cut off when she began remembering Ichigo's full hollow transformation, how badly it had scared her and how she had never really gotten over the fear.

"Inoue?" Ichigo asked. "Are you alright?"

Orihime looked at Ichigo with a terrified expression, but settled down when she saw just how worried he seemed. "I-I'm fine Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said.

"What unsettles me is the fact they said they can control it," Shinji said. "I saw how strong they were when they fought you, they didn't even use a shikai and it seemed they weren't breaking a sweat. If they're that strong normal and they have a huge spike in power as demonstrated when Ichigo transforms, I believe we have a problem."

"Screw all those crappy details," Grimmjow growled. "They kicked us out of _our _house! That alone is a punishment worth death!"

"Grimy we can't fight them alone," Nel said. "You saw what two of them could do, the beat you, me and Ms. Harribel without any effort at all."

Grimmjow had nothing to retort, he knew he was outmatched which was why he was so angry at the moment. "Damn it!" he growled clenching his clawed fists.

"We should all calm down and regroup to asses the situation," Rukia said. "I'll go report back to the Captain Commander."

"Inoue, go with her." Ichigo said. "I'll stay behind with Shinji and the others."

Orihime didn't want to leave, but this was a direct order from her Captain so she didn't really have a choice. "Make sure Lieutenant Hinamori knows my location," Ichigo added. "And _don't _let anyone else in the squad know about what happened."

"Yes sir," Orihime bowed as she and Rukia left through the Senkaimon.

"Well then we should get going Ichigo," Shinji said. "No doubt you have questions for me and knowing how impatient you are you likely want this done as soon as possible." Ichigo follwed behind Shinji as Nel and Grimmjow made a move to do so as well.

"Eh?" Shinji turned to look at the both of them. "I don't remember saying _you _two were invited."

"What?" Grimmjow growled.

"You're Hollows," Shinji told him. "Enemies, why are you even present in the world of the living?"

"I don't like your tone," Grimmjow said clutching his zanpaktou, however before he could do anything with it Shinji gave him a hard glare as a huge amount of reiatsu forced both Nel and Grimmjow to the ground hard. Ichigo was shocked, Shinji was always powerful but Ichigo didn't remember his reiatsu being this strong, even he was having trouble keeping his balance.

"Hirako!" Ichigo said. "Stop it, they're not our enemies! They're my friends." Shinji gave Ichigo his lazy confused look letting up on the two of them.

"Friends?" Shinji asked. "You sure are a strange one, isn't making friends with the enemy seen as taboo in that shithole you call the Sereitei?"

"Gramps doesn't know about them," Ichigo said. "And he has no need to."

The two gave one another hard looks before Shinji scoffed and walked off saying "Fine, if you want they can tag along. I'm not gonna waste my time fighting some useless Arrancar."

"Why you-"

Ichigo held his arm in front of Grimmjow glaring at Shinji as he walked ahead. "Hirako," he said. "What the hell happened to you?"

**A/N: Feedback is love. **


End file.
